Easy Smoky Chili

Welcome back to Sunday Scratchups, your go-to source for weekly recipes from scratch around grocery store sales and affordable ingredients. This week canned tomatoes and beans have been on sale — so let’s talk chili. Easy Smoky Chili, to be precise!

Although I did buy both tomatoes and beans this week, I actually used up some older cans I had in my pantry and just replenished my stockpile with the new ones. (Look: Safeway beans! I only have a couple of cans left from the Dominick’s store closing sales now, sniff.)

As far as saving on ground beef, my best advice anymore is to watch for clearance: I bought 12 lbs of these 85/20 chubs last month at Target at $1.02 a pound after mobile coupon + REDcard. You could also use one pound of meat instead of two and fill in with extra beans in this recipe, or use a bit more of the cheaper 73% lean ground beef instead. Chili is forgiving and flexible, and some things are a matter of taste.

(This recipe does feed a family of four for two nights or more, so keep that in mind when figuring out costs, too.)

Easy Smoky Chili

Ingredients

3 medium jalapeño peppers (omit, deseed, or cut down to one if you are sensitive to heat)
2 small cayenne peppers (omit if you are sensitive to heat)
2.5 Tbsp minced garlic
2 medium or 3 small yellow onions
2 lbs ground beef
6 oz tomato paste
2 14.5 oz canned diced fire roasted tomatoes (or one 28 oz can crushed, or one batch homemade fire roasted tomatoes)
1 can kidney beans, drained
2 cans black beans, drained
4 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or 4 tsp dried)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried)
1/4 cup chili powder
3/4 Tbsp cocoa powder
crushed red pepper, to taste
2 cans water (or one can if using 28 oz)
olive oil (for sauteing)

Directions

Brown ground beef in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and drain well. Meanwhile, finely chop peppers and coarsely chop onion. (I like to hand chop the onions, but chop the peppers very small in the food chopper so that the flavor permeates the whole batch of chili but no one gets a randomly large chunk of too-spicy pepper in their bowl.) Saute onions, garlic, and peppers in olive oil in separate large pan until soft.

While your ground beef and veggies are cooking, chop your herbs if using fresh. The amount of seasoning in a big batch of chili is largely a matter of taste, and often I don’t even measure, but just add and sample until the chili tastes great. You’ll want about a two-to-one ratio of oregano to basil, however, regardless of whether you’re using fresh or dried, and don’t skimp on the seasonings — you have a big old pot of chili to flavor here, so spice it on up! Note: Some varieties of basil are much stronger than others — if you’re growing one of the stronger ones in your garden, reduce the amount here by about half.

Add onion/pepper mixture, spices, cocoa powder, tomatoes, tomato paste, and water to browned ground beef and mix well. Simmer over low heat at least an hour, stirring occasionally.

After chili has simmered for an hour or more, drain and add beans. Stir, increase heat to medium low, and simmer another 15 minutes or so until beans are heated through.

Serve topped with shredded cheese (unless you’re dairy free like Junior High Guy), sliced pickled jalapeños, sour cream, crumbled crackers, tortilla chips, or your own favorite chili fixings. Since low carb MashupDad was out of town last week, the kids and I carbed it up with chili and garlic toast the first night, and chili over baked potatoes the second night — and still had some left over.

SO good for a cool fall day

This is one of those easy warm comfort food recipes, and smells great simmering on the stove all afternoon. The peppers give it an underlying burn, but the cocoa powder mellows that out and combines with the fire roasted tomatoes for a smoky complement to the chili spice.

Easy Smoky Chili, printable recipe

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Easy Smoky Chili

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A hearty, smoky, hits-the-spot chili recipe!

Course dinner

Total Time 1 hour hour 30 minutes minutes

Servings 8

Author Rachel Singer

Ingredients

• 3 medium jalapeño peppers omit, deseed, or cut down to one if you are sensitive to heat
• 2 small cayenne peppers omit if you are sensitive to heat
• 2.5 Tbsp minced garlic
• 2 medium or 3 small yellow onions
• 2 lbs ground beef
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 2 14.5 oz canned diced fire roasted tomatoes (or one 28 oz can crushed or one batch
• homemade fire roasted tomatoes)
• 1 can kidney beans
• 2 cans black beans
• 4 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano or 4 tsp dried
• 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil or 2 tsp dried
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 3/4 Tbsp cocoa powder
• crushed red pepper to taste
• 2 cans water or one can if using 28 oz
• olive oil for sauteing

Instructions

• Brown ground beef in large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat and drain well.
• Meanwhile, finely chop peppers and coarsely chop onion. (I like to hand chop the onions, but chop the peppers very small in the food chopper so that the flavor permeates the whole batch of chili but no one gets a randomly large chunk of too-spicy pepper in their bowl.)
• Saute onions, garlic, and peppers in olive oil in separate large pan until soft.
• While your ground beef and veggies are cooking, chop your herbs if using fresh.
• Add onion/pepper mixture, spices, cocoa powder, tomatoes, tomato paste, and water to browned ground beef and mix well.
• Simmer over low heat at least an hour, stirring occasionally.
• After chili has simmered for an hour or more, drain and add beans.
• Stir, increase heat to medium low, and simmer another 15 minutes or so until beans are heated through.
• Serve topped with shredded cheese, sliced pickled jalapeños, sour cream, crumbled crackers, corn chips, or your own favorite chili fixings.